Automatic oil-gage.



w. v. HERB & e. A. KING.

AUTOMATIC OIL GAGE APPLICATION FILED IULYIQ; IQH.

Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

Wm. Vflerlv) Geo. A. King,

WILLIAMV. HERB AND GEORGE A. KING, 0)? ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

A TOMATIC OIL-GAGE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM V, HERB and Gnonen A. KING, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Allentown, in the county of Lehigh and Stateof Pennsylvania have invented new and useful Improvements in AutomaticOil-Gages, of which the following is aspecification. p

This invention relates to automatic oil gages for engines, the object inView being to produce a combined oilgage and cut out for the electricalignition systems of internal combustion engines, whereby the level ofoil in the crank case may be ascertained at e glance, and also whereby,when the oil has been lowered in the crank case to the danger point theignition system oftheengine will be automatically cut out and the enginethereby stopped, rendering it impossible for the operator to againstarthis engine until the slipply of oil in the crank ease'ha's beenreplenished.

A further object of the invention is to provide such apparatus i'ntheform of an attachment appli'cabie to any internal "combusti'on niotornow in use. I

iv'ith' the above and other objects in view', the invention consists inthe novel construetion, combi-nation andarran'gen-ient of parts,

as herein described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :ligure 1 is a vertical section through thedevice of.

this invention shown applied to an engine which is also illustrated incross section, Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section through theupperpart of the oil chamber, showing the sight gage in elevation. I

Referring to the drawings A designates the crank case of an engine whichis conventionaily shown and in connection with which the combined gageand cut out of this-in vention is employed.

In carrying out the present invention, we use an oil chamber 1 which ispreferably cylindrical in shape for the sake of economy and which standsvertically at one side of and exteriorly of the engine es shown in Fig.1, The cylindrical Oll chamber 1 18 provided with a reduced tubular neck2 at the bottcrn thereof to which is connected ,8. pipe 3 by means of asuitablecoupling or union 4. Thispipeis connected at its oppo site endby a nnion'5 to a-nozzle' 6 which is shown as shouldered and threaded atadapting it to be screwed into n threaded opening in the crank case asshown in 1 1g.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

through the glass tube 10.

-- Patented Dec. 14 19111 Application filed July 15,1914. Serial No.851,231.

1, whereby the level of oil 'in'thecranlr' case will find thesame levelin the oil chamber 1.

The oil chamber-lis provided at the top thereof with a cap 8 andextending upwardly therefrom is a tubular casing or sight tube 9containing glass tube, one side of the tube 9 which is of metal beingcut away to form an observation opening or slot lC' havlng upper andlower cross bars 12 and 13 respectively, which indicate the top and hottom levels of the oil in the crank case for a purpose which willhereinat'ter appear.

Mounted to move upwardly and downwardly n the oilchamber 1 is anairtight fioat 14 "and extending upwardly therefrom forked as shown at21 to allow t'iieistemld to pass therefrom "and to" enable the lower'ball or shoulder 17 'todepre Ss /aid arm-18 ofthe lever, The other arm22 of the lever carries a platinum contact point which is adapted totouch the lower extremity of a binding post 24 which passes. through thecap 8 and is insulated therefrom by a washer 25. The binding postextends above and exteriorly of the cap 8 and is designed to have theground wire 26 of the magneto or, other electrical source ofenerg'yattached thereto, said magneto or source of energy furnishing t 'ecurrent which supplies the ignition system of the engine. I

The device hereinabove described is adapted to be fastened to theciienkcase of any internzil combustion engine and especially the internalcombustion en 'inesnow in common use in automobiles,

dicatesthat the oil in the crank case is up to the lower try cock of thecrank case and when it registers with the upper cross oar 12, itindicates that the oil is up to the level of the upper try cock of thecrank ease, the crank case then containing the proper amount of oil forperfe ct lubrication of the engine. If the owner or operator of an automobile neglects to put oil in the crank case color readilyseen Vhen thebell lti registers with the lower cross bar 13, it in-.

or depends upon someone else to fill the crank case or in the event ofone of the oil pipes breaking and the oil leaking out of the crankcase,the lower ball or shoulder 17 will come in contact with the cut outlever and the weight of the float; will move said lever until it comesin contact with the binding post thereby grounding the wire from themagneto and cutting out the ignition current, thereby stopping theengine before any damage is done to the bearings, cylinder walls andpiston for lack of the proper supply of lubricating oil. It will also beunder stood that the engine cannot be again started until a fresh supplyof oil is put into the crank case thereby causing the float to rise andmove the contact lever or element out of touch Witlrthp binding post. Aspring 27 is employed to'insure breaking the contact between said leverand binding post.

The invention hereinabove described saves much trouble and annoyanceascompared with the present method of ascertaining the level of oil inthe crank case, it being unnecessary under the present invention to.open the upper try cock which is usually within the pan under the engineand exceedingly dirty, being more or less filled with grease-and oil. Inaddition to this it is usually so dark in the pan that it is impossibleto observe whether-or not oil is running from the upper try'cock and ifthe hand is inserted'to ascertain whether or not the oil is running, thehandsand elothing of the operator are soiled. Therefore it is commonpractice to add a small amount of oil to the crank case each day'andthis guess work often results in the'oil getting too low and causing thebearings to be burned out and the cylinder walls scored to such anextent as to greatly impair the working of the engine and possibly ruinthe same altogether.

. The apparatus hereinabove described is entirely automatic inoperation, causing the engine to stop when the oil reaches the dangerpoint and preventing theoperator or driver from again starting theengine until upwardly within said gage tube through 1 which it isvisible, a shoulder on said stem, a source of electrical energy for theignition system of said engine, and a circuit closer contained withinsaid oil chamber and controlled by the shoulder on the stem inaccordance with the movement of said float for grminding said source ofenergy and thereby stopping the engine at a predetermined level of oilin said chamber.

In testimony whereof We ailix our signatures in presence oftwowitnesses.

WILLIAM v. HERB. GEORGE A. KING Witnesses:

HARRY GLIcK, HOWARD C. SCHDONCH.

